Bored [7-inch] (2012)

Concession Records / No Charm

Just a few months after issuing its debut release, Shahman is back with another deliciously sludgy 7-inch. Bored could almost be considered a split between the band and performance artist Jordan Seal. While Shaman provides three new tracks, Seal provided poetry for the liner notes. The duo also collaborated on a show that yielded the record's cover. Check that out if you like dude-spasms and paint-gasms.

The music, however, is purely Shahman's. Bored finds the band already progressing from the sludge of Who Am I? towards something more ambient and psychedelic. While those qualities were certainly hinted at on Who Am I?, they sound more fully realized here. That doesn't mean the band is getting softer, however. Rather, Bored is marked by great extremes, and it's through this quiet/loud dynamic that the band thrives.

"What if Everyone is Wrong?/Strange Love" starts off fairly subtly, but then again so did "Here Within Me." It's only as the song progresses that differences start to appear. Around the 80-second mark, the track turns threatening. Vocal folds get shredded. Over the songs five minutes ân' change, Shahman cycles through different degrees of noise. While the band still warrants a Melvins/Big Business mention, it's clear the duo is headed in a different, perhaps more Sonic Youth-ish direction.

"Pink" and "Ugly Everywhere" follow, and they almost seem conventional compared to the sprawling "Strange Love." Still, these are solidly rocking tunes that hit that sweet spot between sludge and post-rock, making for another successful 7-inch from the promising Canadian act.